To strengthen exchanges, learn from experiences, and fully understand the application and creation process of UNESCO Global Geoparks, from April 4 to April 6, 2023, the Mt.Siguniang Geopark Administration delegation visited the Xingyi Geopark for investigation and exchange. The delegation participated in all the pre-assessment stages of Guizhou Xingyi's application for the creation of a UNESCO Global Geopark, actively absorbing experiences from all parties, laying a solid foundation for the application work of Mt. Siguniang Geopark.

Xingyi Geopark is characterized by its karst geomorphological landscape and the paleontological fossils of the Guizhou Dragon fauna.  The park mainly features geological landscapes such as large-scale karst peak clusters, peak forests, canyons, and waterfalls, as well as rare geological heritages such as the world-renowned Guizhou Dragon fauna and the large-scale facies transition zone of the Triassic sequence.

Malinghe Canyon

Wanfeng Forest

During the two-day on-site inspection, the inspection team, accompanied by the evaluation expert group, visited various locations including the Xingyi Geopark Museum, Maling River Canyon, Wanfeng Forest, Cultural Customs Park, research classrooms, homestay camps, and data centers. They gained a detailed understanding of the management, construction, and preparation for inspection and evaluation of each inspection site. They also listened carefully to the specific opinions put forward by the experts on the management and operation of the geopark, facility construction, promotion and publicity, scientific research and popular science, personnel training, and other aspects.

Visit the Geopark Museum

Visit the Geopark Laboratory

Investigating geological park research and learning activities

Visit the Buyi Cultural and Customs Park of the Geopark

Visit the big data center of the geological park

On the evening of April 6th, the pre-assessment feedback meeting for the application of Xingyi UNESCO Global Geopark was held in Xingyi City, and the inspection team from Mt.Siguniang Geopark Administration was invited to attend.

At the meeting, Zhang Jianping, former Vice Chairman of the UNESCO Global Geopark Council and member of the Executive Board of the Global Geoparks Network (GGN), as well as Sichuan geological expert Yang Geng, gave positive feedback on the overall construction of the geopark and provided valuable suggestions on how to further improve the details of inspection and evaluation.

Sun Guihong, a researcher from the Guizhou Provincial Forestry Bureau, attended the meeting and requested that a rectification and improvement plan be formulated based on the opinions of the two experts and completed as soon as possible.  Li Qinghua, the Deputy Governor of Southwest Guizhou, Zhao Long, the Director of the Southwest Guizhou Forestry Bureau, Gu Xianlin, the Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee of Xingyi City, and leaders from various departments of Xingyi Geological Park attended the meeting and actively expressed their opinions.

Evaluation feedback meeting site

This inspection and exchange will help strengthen the friendship between geoparks, expand exchanges and cooperation, learn from excellent experiences, summarize the difficulties and key points in the creation process, and strive to pay attention to details, identify and rectify deficiencies, and focus on implementation, thereby further improving the application and creation work of Mt. Siguniang UNESCO Global Geopark, and facilitating the high-quality and high-standard implementation of the application and creation work.